The 4th edition of Table Design Exhibition, Creativity Conference opened on 17 December 2025 at the Istanbul Lütfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Center, produced by KM Events under the evocative theme “Sparkles of Nature.” With more than 2,500 visitors and 350+ global MICE and creative professionals in attendance, the event became a living showcase of how design, culture, sustainability, gastronomy and hospitality converge to shape the future of weddings and events.

A proud moment within the programme included the UAE wedding industry being represented on the global media panel by Bride Club ME Founder Rhiannon Downie-Hurst (Rio), a speaker slot that complemented a much wider stage of expert voices and creative leaders in the wedding media space.

This year’s exhibition centred around eight original tablescapes, each imagined as more than décor, as portals into memory, place, emotion and sensory experience.

The Designers Behind the Eight Tables

🏆 Sharon Sacks — Ocean Muse

Concept built by Sacks Productions alongside Ali Bakhtiar, drawing on marine textures, tidal movement, and layered guest journeys inspired by water.

🏆 Danielle Nay & Jamie Aston — An English Elopement

A joint creative concept celebrating intimacy in stately home gardens and candlelit follies reclaimed by nature, crafted as a tribute to quiet rebellion and private love stories.

🏆 Elizabeth Solaru — Frida Kahlo’s Garden

A culturally rich floral universe set within a gold filigree gazebo, layered with butterflies, Casa Azul blue accents, and jewel-toned cakes nestled among abundant blooms.

🏆 Erica Jones — Hidden Forest Sanctuary

A symbolic, secret woodland realm inspired by the Western Ghats of Kerala, India, designed as a protected, almost otherworldly landscape chosen for the few, not the masses.

🏆 Andréa Guimarães & Simone Tostes — Brazilian Green Symphony

A table rooted in harmony between organic materials and refined sophistication, expressing emotional depth through colour study, texture and composition.

🏆 Diana Sandoval — Resilient Autumn — The Beauty of Letting Go

A metaphorical tablescape featuring 2,000 Birds of Paradise, carried by themes of release, healing, courage and transformation through the warmth of autumnal orange light.

🏆 Nefianto Setiono — Oceans of Imagination

A poetic tribute to Indonesia, the world’s largest maritime nation, expressing childhood memory, coral forms, sculpted shells, underwater light, and sustainable artistry.

🏆 KM Events Design Team — 30th Anniversary Table

A legacy installation honouring three decades of KM Group creativity, expressed through calm elegance in green and white, designed to symbolise continuity and evolving vision.

Beyond the Tables — The Panel Sessions & Talks That Shaped 2025 Celebrations

Panel 1 — The New Luxury in Hospitality & Events

Hosted by Radisson Hotels and moderated by Yeşim Doğukan, featuring Sharon Sacks, Danielle Nay, Jamie Aston and Fabrice Orlando. This panel reframed luxury as something felt, not filled, rooted in memory, warmth and curated experience, not guest volume alone.

Panel 2 — Redefining Luxury Destinations Through Creative Experiences

Moderated by Frieha Altaf, featuring Nefianto Setiono, Erica Jones, Simone Tostes, Andréa Guimarães and Diana Sandoval. The speakers emphasised that luxury is evolving into a multi-sensory cultural narrative, shaped by place, emotion and environment, not simply price.

Keynote — Antonio Paraiso: “Luxury is Greener Than Ever”

A standout session linking sustainability to prestige, borrowed from global luxury sectors like fashion and automotive. His message resonated across event disciplines: ethical creativity is the legacy worth leaving.

Elizabeth Solaru: “How About Designing Belonging, the New Language of Creativity in Luxury”

A powerful call to the wedding industry to reflect identity, soul and cultural resonance in design, belonging, not copying, will define the future of luxury celebrations.

Dr. James Morgan: “Managing a Creative Work Environment”

A particularly valuable session for planners and designers scaling teams. Creativity must be cultivated in managed ecosystems, not left to chance.

Panel 4 — Sustainable Success in Floral & Event Design

Featuring Tomas De Bruyne, Pascal Matla and Tim Hobbs, exploring originality, sustainability, expectation management and emotional resonance in floral installations.

Panel 5 — The Creativity of Gastronomy in Türkiye

Sponsored by KM Olive Oils, with leading Turkish chefs discussing sustainability, storytelling and innovation in culinary experience, proving that food is now entertainment, memory and cultural art at weddings.

Panel 6 —“How to Grow Your Brand in Event and Hospitality Industry”

Moderated by Myrdith Leon-McCormack and featuring global media leaders from WEMA Global, Thursd, Guides for Brides, Arabia Weddings, and World Bride Magazine, this session underscored a defining shift as we move into 2026: directories, editorial visibility, and trusted media partnerships are now core to how couples discover and verify wedding experts.

With AI rapidly advancing, third-party media presence carries even greater weight. AI systems actively scan publicly available online content, especially directories, editorial features, reviews, and structured business listings, to index brands, cross-reference credibility, and surface recommendations. Wedding businesses consistently featured across recognised media platforms gain stronger AI visibility, higher trust signals, and greater discoverability in both traditional and AI-assisted search.

In 2026, couples won’t just search for vendors, they’ll ask AI for validated, trusted ones. Media makes that possible.

Awards, Networking & What It All Means Next

The opening ceremony also honoured global design leaders, Sharon Sacks, Danielle Nay, Jamie Aston, Erica Jones, Andréa Guimarães, Simone Tostes, Diana Sandoval, Nefianto Setiono and Elizabeth Solaru for their leadership in creativity within the global event and wedding industry.

The event closed with an industry-loved Networking Party at CVK Park Bosphorus Hotel, followed by B2B meetings and a Gala Dinner at The Grand Tarabya Hotel, delivered with partners including Turkish Airlines, Karaca, Maison Française Türkiye and an incredible roster of global hospitality supporters.

The Future of Weddings & Event Design — 2026 Insights We’re Carrying Forward

• Calm is the new cool
• Luxury is belonging, not just scale
• Sustainability is expected
• Gastronomy is storytelling
• Florals are emotional architecture
• Media visibility fuels AI recognition
• Connection drives planner referrals
• Creativity thrives in managed ecosystems

A Lasting Afterglow — More Than Tables, It’s a New Era of Creative Connection

As the lights dimmed on Istanbul, the impact of Table Design Exhibition 2025 continued to shimmer. From breathtaking tablescapes to candid conversations on hospitality, destinations, floral architecture, and gastronomy, the conference proved one defining truth:

The future of weddings will be sensory, sustainable, culturally rooted, emotionally resonant, and guided by trusted media, community and connection, not just momentary noise.

For couples planning their celebrations and wedding professionals shaping them, 2026 isn’t just about what’s new, it’s about what matters, what lasts, and what is remembered.

If you’re a bride-to-be looking for inspiration that speaks to style and substance, or a wedding planner/designer building trusted supplier networks, we invite you to explore the platform where creativity meets credibility:

👉 Discover. Connect. Get listed. Get inspired.

Bride Club ME is more than a directory, it’s a media platform, concierge and community built for couples and creatives shaping the industry.

📩 Join the community or enquire about listings and collaborations on BrideClubME.com. Email [email protected], for more information.

*Photo Credits: S&S Visual Maker and P.Taufiq Photography